EverQuest Magic Guide

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We take a look at how the magic system is coming along in EverQuest.

By IGN Staff

We've been getting a flood of letters asking us when are we going to cover the magic system in EverQuest. Since we've been focusing on developing our two Human Monks and a Dwarven Warrior, our faithful readers thought we would totally disregard the arcane arts. Bah!!! We still have a few tricks up our sleeves. We have indeed been playing a few spell casters and checking out the magic system in EQ. It just takes a little more time to get the hang of the magic system in any RPG ... brute force is always easier to dish out than it is to use your mental acuity. Plus the fighter types tend to rise through the beginning levels faster than magic wielders. So, without further ado, here's our EverQuest magic guide ...

To start out, let's just run through a basic description of the spell casting classes. There are a total of ten magic wielding classes in EverQuest broken down as follows:

Six pure spell casters --

Cleric Holy priests and priestesses who call upon their deity to provide assistance in the form of healing, defensive, and a few offensive spells.

Druid These masters of nature magic are more at home in the expanse of outdoors rather than in crowded cities. They specialize in defense and ability augmentation magic.

Enchanter As the name suggests, Enchanters specialize in magic which enhances individuals and items. They also know how to charm creatures magically and can learn a few damaging spells.

Magician As the conjurers of the arcane world, Magicians have the ability to produce various items such as food and friendly Elementals. They also pack quite a punch with offensive spells.

Necromancer Evil spell-casters specializing in death magic. They often employ the undead to aid their dark causes.

Shaman The Shaman class is similar to the Cleric class, but is often found in the more primitive races such as the Barbarians, Trolls, and Ogres. They specialize in healing magic, ability enhancement, and a few offensive spells.

Wizard As seekers of magical knowledge, Wizards are the strongest users of offensive magic. They also utilize transport spells with great adeptness.

And four hybrid classes --

Bard Multi-talented adventurers who mix a little bit of brawn with magic. They are the scribes and storytellers of Norrath who weave tales with songs. They have knowledge of ancient melodies which have magical effects.

Paladin A combination of the Warrior and Cleric classes. Righteous crusaders fighting on the side justice and light. Good at combat as well as healing and undead destruction spells.

Ranger A mixture of the Warrior and Druid classes. Able to put up a good fight as well as call upon the powers of nature to defend themselves if needed.

Shadow Knight A melding of the Warrior and Necromancer classes, Shadow Knights are dark beings who utilize evil magic. The Necromancer is to the Cleric as the Shadow Knight is to the Paladin.

Each of the spell wielding classes begins EverQuest with two scrolls. These vary with class but include such spells as Minor Shielding and Shock of Frost for Wizards and Minor Heal and Courage for Clerics. Casters also begin with a spell book in which they must scribe their scrolls before using them. After spells are scribed they are in your spell book permanently. If you wish, you can commit your most frequently used spells to memory. Along the left-hand side of your viewscreen are eight notches which may be used to store memorized spells. It takes some time to memorize spells, but it is extremely useful to have certain spells at your fingertips. To cast a spell, simply target the person (including yourself), creature, or item you want to magically affect and click on the appropriate spell from your sidebar or spell book. The spell may fizzle if your skill is too low, wasting precious mana. And if you move or are struck during casting your spell will definitely fail.

The most important thing to spell users is mana, or magical energy. Casting spells takes mana. The more powerful the spell, the more the mana cost. So what do you do when you run out of mana? Meditate. All spell casters must relax and get in tune with their magical power sources to recoup their mana. It is wise to find a safe place to meditate as, during meditation, spell casters cannot react to their environment. This means no movement and no talking, less the meditative state be broken. They can only hear what is going on around them.

Every race allows some type of spell casting class, but certain races such as the Elves and Erudites are more adept than the Trolls and Ogres. New spells are available to casters about every four or five levels. So far we've seen 1st, 4th, 9th, 14th, and 19th level spells available for sell in the various towns of Norrath, the EQ gaming world. I'm sure there are spells above 19th, we just haven't encountered them yet. Of course, our most developed spell caster is only 11th level now, so it's not like we've really been on the search.

To learn new spells, you must first purchase scrolls from the appropriate dealer. But these pages of arcane knowledge don't come cheap. 1st level spells will run you about 1 gold a piece. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is quite a hefty sum for a beginning player in the world of EverQuest. And, as we get closer to 14th level, we're looking to pay about 4-5 platinum (40-50 gold) a piece ... ouch!!!

Since we've had the most experience with a Barbarian Shaman character, we'll give you the low down on a few of the spells you can expect to see from this class.

Feet of the Cat Increases your agility making you harder to hit.

Frost Rift An offensive spell which freezes a target for approximately 15 points of damage.

Gate Along with Bind (which all spell casters can get at 14th level - it binds you to a certain city so, if you die, you don't automatically start at your home city), one of the most useful spells around. Gate allows your character to teleport back to their home city.

Serpent Sight Allows those races not naturally endowed with superb night vision to see in the dark.

Spirit of the Wolf Allows you to move twice as fast as usual.

The charm of magic may only be realized at higher levels as mana-channelers often have a more difficult time gaining experience than fighter types in the early days of adventuring. Warriors begin with more hit points, higher stamina, better defense, and better combat skills while magic users tend to start with weaker weapons, less defensive measures, and weaker offensive skills. However, higher level spell casters can pack quite a punch and can enact extreme defensive measures such as becoming invisible. It really is hard to hit something if you can't see it. Of course, because of EverQuest's heavy emphasis on traditional role-playing, the best adventuring party is one which combines warriors and offensive spell caster as well as healers.

Well, that about does it for IGNPC's exclusive coverage of EverQuest. We've had a two week exclusive on EQ, so expect to see the Web flooded with EQ articles next week. But don't forget who brought it to you first and who has the jump on everybody else. Check back with IGNPC on Monday for our next EverQuest update.